By Mary O’KEEFE

The Crescenta Valley is seeing some administrative changes at secondary schools for school year 2021-22. For example, it was announced that CV High School Principal Linda Junge has taken a position as assistant superintendent of human resources for the South Pasadena Unified School District.

The school community was recently informed that Principal Scott Anderle at Rosemont Middle School will not be returning to the school as principal.

“I am writing to inform you that Principal Scott Anderle is currently on leave and will not be returning to Rosemont Middle School. Our wonderful assistant principals, Mrs. Rosabel Park and Dr. Adriana Pestonji, will support our expanded learning programs at Rosemont this summer,” stated Glendale Unified School District Superintendent Vivian Ekchian.

She added that as they begin the hiring process for the new principal the district will gather feedback from students, teachers, staff and families to ensure the candidate brings qualities that reflect the needs of the local community.

Anderle has been at Rosemont for four years; prior to his position as principal he was at the district office as the assistant director of Student Services and he was assistant principal at Toll Middle School. He has been with the district for 20 years.

Anderle may not be returning as principal but he does have plans to continue serving students as a teacher. He is in the process of working with the district on this next phase of his journey.

“I always said I wanted to [retire] the way I came into the district, as a teacher,” Anderle said in an interview with CVW.

He praised the “greatest group of teachers, staff and cafeteria staff.” During the last four years the cafeteria staff has received a 100% rating for their work.

There are many aspects of Rosemont Middle School that Anderle said he is proud of, including its athletic program with “great athletes and coaches.”

Anderle said the highlight of his Rosemont career was one specific award.

“There is no question that receiving the California Distinguished School Award from Tony Thurmond in April 2019 was the highlight of my career,” he stated.

Anderle was honest about how he has struggled during the pandemic and how that is, in part, why he felt it was best for his health that he step down.

“It has been really, really difficult,” he said.

He said switching to a virtual model and the technology challenges and general changes that had to be made, including adapting to the fluctuating rules and restrictions that the pandemic created, was overwhelming.

In November Anderle found that he was facing a major depression disorder. He knew what this meant; he had a family history of depression. It was a difficult journey for him as he sought help, which included counseling and medication. With depression it is not a “one pill fits all” fix; it often takes time to get just the right balance.

Anderle said he wanted to go public with his depression diagnosis because he knows many students, and adults, have faced mental health issues during the pandemic and wants everyone to know it is important to get help and not ignore these issues.

“There are a lot of students who have struggled in the last year and a half. They have to reach out [for help] – that is the first step, I think, as we move forward,” he said.

For now, Rosemont continues its summer enrichment resources. The assistant principals are taking the reins to lead the summer program while Anderle waits to hear what his next position will be at GUSD.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, major depression is one of the most common mental disorders in the United States. An estimated 17.3 million adults in the U.S. had at least one major depressive episodes, according to a 2017 study.

Outreach organizations include CalHope; speak via Live Chat with calhope.org or call (833) 317-4673. CalHope is operated by the California Dept. of Health Care.